If he ran 80 yards and stopped then walked off calmly he wasn't spooked to the point of avoiding the area. Now I will say that in my experience it's tough to get a big buck in the same situation multiple times, but he'll likely still be in the area.

Coyote won’t screw him up but all that grunting and ‘can’ nonsense may. IMHO keep your buck calling to a minimum. Less is more. Especially in CT where the rut is far less intense than the Midwest. I can’t remember the last time I heard a buck grunt here in Connecticut.

Leave your calls at home. Sit quietly. Leave your phone and games at home. Sit quietly. Wait for the wind and temperature to be right. Don't worry about the coyote, he did you a favor. Just go kill him.

I agree the coyote won’t have any impact. However the grunting did. If he was 40 yards and could see well he could see there was no buck. They can pin point the sound very well. I doubt I would have called at all at 40 yards. However when they are close 100 yards or so. I will call softly in the opposite direction the deer is from me.

So if you grunt at a deer and he looks in your direction and sees nothing how does this mess him up ? Kinda sounds like the old bs about calling to turkeys too much and educating them . I have grunted at a buck one day and had him look then walk off and then a few days later grunted at the same buck and he ran right over to 25 yards .

In my "opinion" the coyote may be your savior, him distracting the buck will be the focus of his memory, or interaction for the evening. Not you and your calls. He may well be back, that said it is time for the bachelor herds to break up and change patterns, you may be lucky to see him again. If you don't see him again, I would blame the change of travel, he may still follow the smaller bucks out it will most likely just be after dark that he comes out. my "opinion"

If a big buck is moving out of range giving a call or two can`t hurt. What he did was look to se if he could see anything that might peak his interest and be worth going to have a look see. He had a destination in mind and he made the decision to keep to his plan.

You had nothing to lose and unless he busted you calling....you did zero harm. For all you know that buck`s home range is a mile away and you will never see him again.

This guy was walking out of my life, until I turned him around with the ol' Knight & Hale Arrowhead grunt call! Most of the bucks I've killed were out of range, and I've had em' come charging in with their hair standing up, looking to kick the intruders butt. Very seldom have I had a deer bolt out of the area, due to me grunting at them...most will just go about their business, and mosey on out of the area.

I think the difference is mature vs immature bucks. I've definately had good luck grunting to young bucks and having them come to it. But the big boys.......everyone I have grunted at turns and walks away. They don't get that head gear by being dumb.......... The can call I don't even pull out anymore. Every one in the woods has that thing and its way overdone IMO.

You won't fool a mature buck at close range with a call unless you are in very, very thick cover. Close being under 80 yds, maybe 100.

Past that, if you are in good cover, the odds go up a bunch. I have grunted or bleated or rattled in over half of my biggest bucks and had a few come in but not give me a shot. Calling works if there is good cover and the buck is receptive to it. Some are not.